And despite the cost in blood and lives, nothing has been decided. Duke Alan holds the field, and Godfrey of Malterre's army has fled. But Alan has himself lost many men, and his strongest ally Count Chrodegang deserted the field. Though dispersed, Malterre's forces are far from destroyed. Rather than the single, decisive blow for which both dukes -- indeed, the whole kingdom -- had hoped, this battle looks to be only the first in what could be a long civil war.

For those of you interested in statistics, the duke of Beaumont's forces lost 78 men killed or seriously wounded, not including those men who fled the field.

The duke of Malterre's army had 111 men killed or seriously wounded, and only about a quarter of his army managed to leave the field in good order. Thurold of St Claire (Templar marshal), Eduard de L'Isle and Reginald de Fer were all killed. Richard of Stratton St Jean, Guthmund of Doddendorf (vice-marshal of the Teutonic knights), Gunfrid de Port, Fulcher, sheriff of Middleport, and Oliver de Granville were all wounded and captured on the field. The Teutonic knights and the affinities of Reginald, Richard, Gunfrid and Oliver were wiped out. Yikes.

That was a splendid, exciting, epic battle, Andrew! I enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than your most excellent last one. Thank you for photographing and narrating it for us. I really like the aftermath with the clergy and civilians on the field. The entire event looks spectacular and is very historically accurate. Will the two dukes meet again?

That was a splendid, exciting, epic battle, Andrew! I enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than your most excellent last one. Thank you for photographing and narrating it for us. I really like the aftermath with the clergy and civilians on the field. The entire event looks spectacular and is very historically accurate. Will the two dukes meet again?

Hi Justindo,

Many thanks -- glad you enjoyed it

Will they meet again? Hmmm... Perhaps eventually, but in the near future it seems unlikely.

The room where I fought this last battle has had to be reorganised, giving rather less floor space on which to deploy lots of troops. And the reason for that reorganisation is that my wife and I are expecting a baby in February , so I doubt I'm going to have a great deal of spare time to be wargaming with Playmobil!

Epic indeed! That was a magnificent story Andrew! I thought Duke Alan was sure to have lost when there were mass routs on both wings of his army...He was lucky there were several more important routs on his enemies' side.

Epic indeed! That was a magnificent story Andrew! I thought Duke Alan was sure to have lost when there were mass routs on both wings of his army...He was lucky there were several more important routs on his enemies' side.

Congratz on your baby Andrew.

Hi WoT,

Many thanks -- glad you liked it

At the height of the battle, both armies wound up having to check morale -- Alan of Beaumont's rolls of the dice were luckier than Godfrey of Malterre's! Truth be told, I wasn't entirely happy with the verisimilitude: it seemed slightly incongruous that an army (Malterre's) that had just succeeded in driving off substantial portions of the opposing side (Beaumont's) would then themselves start to panic and run. But I guess if Beaumont's remaining forces did manage to hold firm and even counter-attack, that could cause Malterre's men to have second thoughts. And maybe Malterre's men didn't really have their hearts in it to begin with.

Anyway, confusion and defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory were far from uneard-of on medieval battlefields!

And thank you very much for your good wishes on the baby -- much appreciated .